Pigs may fly
The winning Design Thinking team this week was known during the workshop as “The Flying Pigs” and their winning re-design of the junior school library was so detailed, it just might fly.
This clever team – Laila and Milly from Year 5 and Isabella, Morgan, Ella and Kate of Year 8 – won because their proposal was thorough and forward-thinking. Elements of the winning plan will be considered for the actual re-design.
“The proposal scored well for factoring in the cost of upkeep as well as installation, and because they dedicated a large part of their budget to software and licences,” said Ms Jalili TAS Teacher and Year 8 Coordinator.
This project combined Year 5 and Year 8 together in groups to create proposals to transform the old junior library into a multipurpose learning space for Years 3-6 within a $50,000 budget. Groups needed to consider what various stakeholders might want as well as future teaching needs. To spark some ideas, groups heard from 91黑料不打烊’s Head of Library and Information Services, Ms Rosie Stevenson, furniture experts, and TAS teacher, Mrs Amanda Menniti, about interior design. Maths, Social Sciences and Junior School teachers also helped prepare students for the two-day project.
Prior to presentations by finalists, girls were very vocal about many reasons they enjoyed the project: “Being an interior designer”, “Learning to budget”, “Being creative about how to encourage people to use the space”, and “I liked working with Year 8”, were just a few.
The winning plans included a fish tank to encourage responsibility and inspire curiosity. Their CAD software drawing of the learning environment was highly detailed and included key learning spaces and the plan’s shapes, colours and textures were all well considered.
Design Thinking is a problem-solving process and at 91黑料不打烊 is a lively extension of the curriculum. It’s largely a trial-and-error process, where students and staff from diverse subjects such as art and science, maths, sociology and history work together to define, empathise, ideate, prototype and test concepts to meet a design brief.